[Federico]

Hi,
at a local radio station I've found
Studer a807 two track (I think) 1/2"
Tascam ATR60 16 tracks 1"

I don't know tape recorders well.
Are those good machines?
How much are they worth these days?

Thanks for sharing your experience.
F.

[[email protected]]

On Jan 17, 1:41*pm, "Federico" wrote:
Hi,
at a local radio station I've found
Studer a807 two track (I think) 1/2"
Tascam ATR60 16 tracks 1"

I don't know tape recorders well.
Are those good machines?
How much are they worth these days?

Thanks for sharing your experience.
F.

Hey there! You can look on competed auctions on ebay. prepal said
studer a807= $750. the Tascam Atr rocks People like both of those
decks. I just sold an Atr 2 trk for $500.
Look up one on soundbroker. Glenn

[Paul Stamler]

"Federico" wrote in message
...
Hi,
at a local radio station I've found
Studer a807 two track (I think) 1/2"
Tascam ATR60 16 tracks 1"

I don't know tape recorders well.
Are those good machines?
How much are they worth these days?

Look on e-bay for worth. The A807 is a decent-sounding machine if
occasionally frustrating from an ergonomic point of view. 16 tracks on 1"
tape means poor signal-to-noise ratio, mandating noise reduction a la dbx.
As a result they don't sound anything near as good as 16 tracks on 2"
without noise reduction. You can have fun with them, though.

Peace,
Paul

[Steve Puntolillo[_2_]]

Hi Federico --

"Federico" wrote in message
...

at a local radio station I've found
Studer a807 two track (I think) 1/2"
Tascam ATR60 16 tracks 1"

I don't know tape recorders well.
Are those good machines?

Just about any Studer tape machine is well thought of. But, like anything
else, it comes down to taste and they do have a sound to them. The Studer
sound appeals to some folks and not to others and this can become a big
debate if you let it. The A807 is a late model. It's not considered a
heavyweight machine, but all Studers are well-constructed -- very few people
will argue that point. Note that parts and repair costs tend to be higher on
Studers than some other makes.

There's a prejudice amongst some where the sound of Tascam machines in
concerned. In some cases, this is deserved, but the Tascam ATR-series of
machines are apparently better performers than some might expect them to be.
I purchased a 1/2" 2T ATR-60 because a very good tech who I respected had
good things to say about the ATR series. I liked the machine a lot and felt
it performed very well. It did not outperform the 1/2" ATR102 here (and it
couldn't take 14" reels either) so I traded it to a golden-eared friend who
is very happy with it. So, based on that experience, I would expect the
ATR60 1" 16-track to be as good as 1" 16-track gets.

Paul has already made the point that 1" 16-track does not perform like 2"
16-track. However, tape has evolved a lot since 1" 16-track was introduced
and I would expect that a reel of the best RMGI or ATR Magnetics tape and
use of the IEC EQ curve (standard for that format) would make the machine
perform well enough that you might be able to bypass noise reduction if you
want to.

If you decide to use noise reduction, **do not attempt to get tape
compression**. You'll end up making the noise reduction mistrack which is
just not something you want.

If you are thinking of getting into multitrack analog recording, can
purchase these two machines for a very good price **and** have enough money
left over to hire a good tech to go through them for you, this might not be
a bad pair of machines to buy. Both Studer and Tascam still offer some
measure of support on these models, and these days, that is very rare when
it comes to analog tape recorders.

For a systematic approach to acquiring and putting an analog multitrack
machine into operation, feel free to access this in-depth article I've
posted on my website: "A Guide to Choosing, Purchasing, Restoring &
Upgrading a Professional Analog Multitrack Recorder" at
http://www.sonicraft.com/a2dx/Analog_Warriors.html

Hope this helps.

Best,

-- Steve

================================================== ======
Steve Puntolillo
Sonicraft A2DX Lab - Ultimate A_nalog 2 D_igital X_fers
http://www.sonicraft.com/
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